Princeton 11/12 Softball's
Resolve Paves the Way for Historic Result

By
Bill Alden

Things looked bleak for Princeton's 11/12-year-old
softball team as it headed into the late innings of its game
against Florence last Monday in District 12 play at Grover
Park.

Trailing 1-0 and facing elimination from the competition, Princeton
star pitcher Kelsey Burns hurt her right shin as she was thrown out
at the plate in the fourth inning.

Limping out to the mound,
Burns kept her composure and struck out the side. Buoyed by
Burns' gritty effort, Princeton finally broke through in the
sixth and final inning.

With one out in the books, second
baseman Fiona Mahon laid down a beautiful bunt and beat the
throw by a step. After stealing second, Mahon raced home with
the tying run on a sharp single by Olivia Ray. Then Burns, still
limping, dropped a single into right field to drive in Ray with
the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the sixth, Burns
capped her courageous effort by striking out two and shutting
down Florence to preserve the win for Princeton and trigger
a raucous on-field celebration.

The hollering and hugging
were justified as the triumph marked the first time that Princeton
has ever advanced to the District 12 Final Four.

Afterward,
an ecstatic Princeton coach Billy Ray was bowled over by the
character shown by his players. "You couldn't get a better
game than that," said a grinning Ray, whose club posted
a 2-2 mark . "We gave up one run early and our girls kept
battling."

Ray had special words of praise for Burns.
"Kelsey Burns kept us in the whole game," said Ray
of his star hurler who had 14 strikeouts on the game. "She
pitched the last three innings limping. Then with an injury, Kelsey
gets the game-winning hit on a clean single."

While
his players may have been cool-headed as the game headed down the
stretch, Ray was sweating things out. "Worried? I was panicking,"
said Ray with a laugh as he recalled the sixth inning.

"I told the girls before the inning that they have been tremendous all
year, they've been having fun all year. It was them. They just
kept their heads together."

That resolve paved
the way for Princeton softball to reach new heights. "For
us this is thrilling," said Ray, whose team had already made history
when it beat Florence 14-9 last Thursday to record its first-ever win
in District 12 play.

"We are moving to the next level.
I don't think anybody thought that this was possible. This
is history for Princeton."

Princeton will face West
Windsor on July 8 in Florence to kick-off the double-elimination
Final Four competition. The other two teams remaining in the
tourney are Washington Township and Cranbury-Plainsboro.

Ray, for one, is confident that his club can do some damage in
Final Four. "I personally think that when Kelsey is pitching,
we can beat anyone," asserted Ray, who acknowledged that
his squad lacks pitching depth.

"They don't want to
see her now. We have good hitting. Our fielding is getting
better and better. Now we have some time for a few extra days
of practice. This has been fun."

If Princeton
can keep playing with the character it displayed Monday, itcould
have a lot more fun this summer.